A law just passed, maybe a month ago, that requires all Cell phone companies to provide unlocking codes to anyone who wants to unlock their phone and use it on any network. There was a link on foxnews.com but I lost it. Do a google search and I'm sure it will come up. I don't think Apple would mind this, seeing that they will make 200 - 300 more for selling a phone without a contract.

That is incorrect. Cell phone companies are NOT required at all to provide any unlocking codes at all. however any individual or company can provide/sell the locks and the cell phone companies cannot sue to prevent it.

First I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of new hardware introductions today of the PC type. Some products are just due for refresh.

That however is not IPhone related, but even here I'm disappointed.

First; the phone costs way to much, especially if forced into a 2 year contract with Cingular. I'm hoping that by June they realize the errors of their ways and set a more reasonable price. I haven't seen Cingulars contract for this device, but lets face it it won't be to the users advantage.

Does anyone actually look at competitive offerings before making these comments??? The Palm Trea 750 is $499 with contract (before rebate and who knows about those in the future) and it only comes with 60 MB (that megabytes) of user accessible storage.

No doubt, Steve lived up to his pre-Macworld keynote teaser, i.e., " The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.”

And now, with the announcement that the iPhone includes over 200 new patents and his final closing statement after Mayer finished and Steve thanked Macworld Expo attendees for coming, added, "We'll see you all soon," I expect a lot more annoucements and innovations to come and very quickly.

Quote:

…iPhone includes…a full QWERTY soft keyboard…. When users need to type, iPhone presents them with an elegant touch keyboard which is predictive to prevent and correct mistakes, making it much easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.

It seems more than possible now that a new laptop or even a tablet could be coming. With the new "Mult-Touch" technology replacing the current mechanical keyboard. Placing two fingers on the spacebar and the keyboard becomes a trackpad.

In fact, why not include a cell phone with a multi-touch numeric keypad/dialpad on the right side.

Does anyone actually look at competitive offerings before making these comments??? The Palm Trea 750 is $499 with contract (before rebate and who knows about those in the future) and it only comes with 60 MB (that megabytes) of user accessible storage.

My Treo that I paid $399 for at Sprint, is now going for $299, both there and from Verison.

i hate to do this, but i just saw this at the bottom of the page of the iphone.

'This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained'

Not saying this works because I've never needed to unlock a phone. But that article or maybe another said it's best to tell your service provider that your are moving out the country and you need to unlock your phone. I don't know, I've never tried.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pistolero

That is incorrect. Cell phone companies are NOT required at all to provide any unlocking codes at all. however any individual or company can provide/sell the locks and the cell phone companies cannot sue to prevent it.

Well i guess this means more business for random phone unlocking companies. It's usually just a few keystrokes.

Your problems don't seem to be with the iPhone, instead, with functions like touchscreen electronics in general. Please, stay in chocolatelely Belgium, your design comments (Widgets instead of Safari!) I think contradict the general feelings of most Mac users. I could be wrong, but this is from my impressions.

Dear Ted, reading this thread I do realise that I am more a candyphone kind of profile i/o a smartphone guy! So, to all the smart people around here, enjoy this little baby from apple and please send some condolences to me. But make sure I can open it on my Candybar

I use Sprint, and we have a great plan, so I won't be switching carriers. BUT, since it has built in wifi, can't we use it on wireless networks and use ichat and such? I know it's alot, but I would pay 500 for it.

I use Sprint, and we have a great plan, so I won't be switching carriers. BUT, since it has built in wifi, can't we use it on wireless networks and use ichat and such? I know it's alot, but I would pay 500 for it.

The $500 quoted price is the subsidised price for people who sign a 2 year contract with Cingular. There is no indication (as of yet) that there will be an unlocked version offered for sale by Apple.

3. Paradigm shift in how we operate a phone. Most hold phone in hand and operate buttons with thumb of same hand. The tactile sensation of the button allows us to know where we should apply pressure to activate that button. How well this works with the iPhone remains to be seen. Will we now need to use two hands (one to hold phone and other to navigate)?

People here seem to think that an iPod is coming with all the funcionality of the iPhone iPod. They are (almost certainly) wrong. The reason for this is simple - this phone packs a *lot* of processing/graphical punch to pack all these features in with full multitasking. Even Cover Flow needs a lot of power (try it out on an old G4). An iPod that could do all the non-phone stuff would still need to be really expensive, pretty much as expensive as the iPhone - hence we just get the iPhone.

Furthermore, it is the logical extension of the iPod growth. It started off simple but they have slowly been adding functionality to it. Why have a telephone, and an iPod, and a PDA (as I do at the moment)? It makes no sense because once you get the hardware meaty enough it might as well as do all the things together.

I think the most excititing thing is the multi-touch screen. The keyboard and mouse are ancient technology and a barrier to interacting with a computer naturally. It'll be interesting to see if they do any desktop/laptop multi-touch screens. Anyhow, multi-touch is the beginning; then it's voice recognition - especially on a phone, seeing as they're designed to be talked into!

Still, there are many many unanswered questions. Will we be able to expand the memory? If applications can be programmed for it no problem (it is a slimmed down version of OS X, after all), will we see plenty of 3rd party GPS software (much like TomTom for Windows Mobile 5)? It has bluetooth, so connecting to external bluetooth receivers is no problem.

What's the deal with battery life? I haven't seen that mentioned yet, but it would seem that a device like the iPhone is just begging to be used continuously. How long will it last? Does it have swappable batteries? I think non-swappable like an iPod is a big mistake on a phone.

Will Apple be partnering with just one carrier in each country? Will they be including all these 'extra' features like the voice mail enhancements in all markets? It needs the carriers participation making their network compatible, no?

Gmail is available it says so on the site. They were just featuring Yahoo mail.

here is one quote: "iPhone uses a rich HTML email client that fetches your email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics right along with the text."(apple.com)

In a written response to an inquiry from CNET News.com made while Jobs' speech was still going on, a Cisco representative said, "It is our belief that with their announcement today, Apple intends to agree to the final document and public statements that were distributed to them last night." Cisco expects to receive a signed agreement Tuesday, according to the statement.

So Apple introducs this new phone that EVERYONE has been wanting and talking about and it's too expensive, too locked in and too little storage:

1) It gets released in June - 6 months from now, some of those features could change. Remember when Apple upgraded everyone's MBP processors. Maybe we'll see bigger flash space by that time. Who knows

2) Why go exclusively with Cingular? While I've had Cingular for a long time, I'll be the first to admit I really hate dealing with them, but Cingular could have let Apple have a bigger profit on the phone. Cingular also has the largest subscriber base in the country - so you get access to more customers. Why not release on Sprint or Verizon or Cricket or T-Mobile or whatever? Who knows what went down in the business meetings. Cingular could have made one hell of an offer. I hope we'll see more carriers, but it's a start. Shit, remember all the people that griped when Apple came out with the iPod? Too many MP3 players on the market, too much to compete with, etc., etc. - and the product evolved into what it is today. The iPhone will do that as well.

3) Expensive is not exactly what I'd use to describe the phone. The Treo can run as much as 400 bucks, but they have considerably less storage and of yeah no OS X-ness. Is the iMac expensive compared to a beige box from CompUSA or Fry's? Sure, you'll pay almost 500 - 600 more for the iMac, but I'll bet you'll be happier with the iMac.

Let's wait and see what happens come June, and the let the product evolve. I can tell you one thing though, I'll buy one.

Some observations...
-It appears as though the OSX it is running is based on Leopard tech.
-Mail & Notes but no ToDo.app
-Voice memos? Audio recording? a microphone jack was mentioned I believe
-2MP camera but no video capture mentioned
-No Preview.app for reading PDFs!???
-No TextEdit so no way to view a .doc attachment??
-no Apple logo on front of device(I can't imagine any other company exercising that kind of restraint)
-GPS should be doable through external Bluetooth GPS reciever
-.Mac integration not mentioned at all, instead Yahoo! push email
-No pics of desktop dock, but I assume it should be compatible with current iPod chargers.
-Will developers be able to get in on this? (Skype, Mozilla, Parallels, just kidding)
-Will Apple control the apps like it does iPod games?
-Will they sell additional apps through iTunes store?
-No games on this! Not even Chess!
-Only a single battery meter is showing (Kevin Rose said it had dual batteries?)
-I see Clock but I also hope it has an Alarm Clock function.
-No infared! (can't use as a universal remote)
-Didn't actually show the calendar app in action
-I hope it supports the Nike+